Artist creates beautiful Tokyo street scenes on coffee cups

By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN

Updated 11:51 PM ET, Sun July 31, 2016

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Coffee cup art – Tokyo-based illustrator Adrian Hogan's sketches of Japanese street scenes on the sides of disposal coffee cups have become an Internet sensation. His popularity surged when he began posting Instagram videos (see below) of his coffee art. They show him rotating an illustrated cup to match the view in the background.

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Tokyo street sketches – "I tend not to be thinking of something else, but what's in front of me when I draw," says Hogan.

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'Coffee People' – Hogan credits the idea to his illustrator friend Mariya Suzuki, who held an exhibition called "Coffee People," documenting cafe life. She invited other artists to draw on coffee cups for the show.

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Adrian Hogan – Attracted by contemporary Japanese artists, the Australian first came to Japan five years ago.

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Urban drawing – Hogan says it takes about an hour to draw a scene on a cup. Time varies for his other sketches. "It could take 30 seconds if someone who strikes a pose I like is about to hop off the train."

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Wallpaper-like building – Hogan says he's influenced by the two-dimensional feel of Japanese illustration. "There's a flatness to the landscape and architecture here," he says. "It's almost like a wallpaper."

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Entrances – Hogan's work includes a project sketching the front door of buildings in Tokyo.

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People watching – Hogan sometimes draws Tokyo's Omotesando and Ginza areas. Omotesando is a hot street fashion spot while Ginza is the place to see older and more elegant locals.

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Less glitzy side of Japan – Hogan says he prefers the city's older neighborhoods. "I'm drawn to those places because they've a lot of characters, history and people are often very friendly and interested in talking to you."

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Sushi diagram – Hogan has used his drawings to communicate with locals, especially when he first came to Japan as an English teacher. "I found out by drawing as a spoke, it would help the students understand what I was saying more clearly."

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Traveling tip – When traveling to places where he doesn't speak the language, Hogan fills the back of his notebook with diagrams explaining where he's from and what he's trying to find.

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(CNN)Mention coffee cup art to anyone nowadays and their eyelids begin to droop at the prospect of another Instagram picture of a barista's swirly latte foam creation.

But the work of Adrian Hogan, a self-employed illustrator based in Tokyo, should jolt them open again with the force of a triple espresso.

Hogan has become an Internet sensation after a video of street sketches he makes on the side of disposal coffee cups got people clicking.

"Once I drew on the coffee cup, I filmed it and rotated the coffee cup at the same time," says Hogan. "So you have the panorama of the background and the coffee cup in the foreground."

The appeal, he says, is that people like to see how the scene unveils as he drew it.

Best people-watching spots in Japan

Hogan's painting mostly focuses on urban life in Tokyo and he sketches wherever he goes.

He recommends a few ideal spots for people-watching (and drawing) around Tokyo.

"Omotesando is a high-end, glitzy part of town. A lot of street fashion photography you may come across in Japanese magazines are taken in this part of town," he says.

He recommends Ginza, with its decades-old department stores, for its retro feel.

"It's very elegant with white buildings ... it has an airy and dreamy feeling to it.

"You get to see more older and more elegant men and women there, especially on the weekend when they close the street for pedestrians so they would walk more freely."

Shibuya's famous scrambled intersection is also one of Hogan's favorites, but he enjoys older Tokyo neighborhoods more.

"I really like areas like Musashi Koyama, this is more of a working class area slightly becoming more gentrified," he says. "There are a lot of standing-drinking bars, small and quite tightly packed in. It's a very fun imagery to draw."

There's also Nihonbashi, where a massive freeway sits.

"It's beautiful and it's where you meet a lot of salary men. They're usually very interested in what I'm doing. It's a great way to meet people."